Step 1:  Work out legs for the first time in a long time

Step 2:  Leave the gym and nearly faceplant trying to merely step off the curb

Step 3:  Arrive home and proceed to crawl upstairs on all fours to get to the shower

Step 4:  Moan and groan for the next three days every time I walk up and down stairs, go from sitting to standing, bend down to pick up whatever it is that I just can’t seem to hold on to, or do anything else that physically involves my lower body

I know from past experience that if I would just develop the habit of consistently working out my legs each week, I would not find myself nearly as dehabilitated as I currently do.  I want my entire body, including my legs, to be strong and in shape.  Where I am failing in achieving that goal is in my inability to form the habit of working out my legs.  In his book Thinking For a Change, John Maxwell says, “Success comes to those who habitually do things that unsuccessful people don’t do.”

We are all very familiar with the idea that habits are hard to break, but I think we often fail to assign a similar weight to the idea that habits are also very hard to form.  Initiating and maintaining good habits requires time, motivation, and directed thought, all three of which are already shortages for most people.  These habits are essential, though, in our journey to find success.

If I want to eventually make it up the stairs on two legs instead of on all fours, I’m going to have to find the gym more than once a month!

As a guy whose full-time job only demands a couple of days each week, I find myself with more free time than I know what to do with.  I know, most of you are probably having difficulty identifying the problem in my situation.  You would love to have more free time, right?  I thought so, too. . . for a while.  Then I got bored.  I also found that almost anything you can spend your time doing is either going to make you money or spend your money; and after not enough of the former and too much of the latter, you can find yourself in what might be called a financial hole.

So, for quite a while now, I have been trying to come up with a constructive, financially gainful way to spend my free time, and it hasn’t been as easy as I imagined.  Sure, I could just get a part-time job working for The Man, and I have tried that, but I run into issues like not wanting to work nights, not wanting to work weekends, not wanting to do something I don’t like, and not wanting to do it for $9/hour.  I want to be my own ticket, doing my own thing, making my own money in my own time.  I want my own light bulb, but my current strategy makes it seem more like a matter of luck than appointment whether I find my light bulb in this big dark room.

I want to talk to people who have groped in the dark and found their light bulb.  Enlighten me.

I become interested in a lot of new things frequently, but it is a rare occasion that something becomes my obsession.  My obsession for the past couple of months, though, has been duck hunting.  It only took one time for me, and I was hooked!  In the short span since that first outing, waterfowling has become something of an addiction.  Addiction is the only explanation for wanting to wake up at 4 a.m. and sit in the dark and freezing cold to shoot at a bird that doesn’t taste nearly as good as the chicken in the freezer aisle!  There is an anticipation and an excitement in hunting, though, that I have found in few other hobbies.  

So why do I call it an obsession?  Well, in these past couple of months, if I have free time, I am duck hunting.  If I am not duck hunting, I am thinking about duck hunting, reading about about hunting,  or looking for new places to hunt.  I spent every dime of my Christmas money this year on outfitting myself for duck hunting.  I justify this envelopment of my time and energy by saying, “Well, the season only lasts for a few more weeks, and then I can start thinking about normal things again.”  Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife.

But sometimes I feel guilty about my obsession.  I realize that duck hunting doesn’t really hold any eternal significance, and that I have, at times, ignored the things that do (relationships with people, spending time with God, helping others).  How do I find the same obsession in those aspects of my life the way I have with duck hunting?  I don’t just want to find a balance, I want my obsession to translate into other areas of my life!

What is your obsession?  Does it consume your thoughts, ideas, and feelings?  How does your obsession translate into the other parts of your life?

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1129154272

But how many of these people do you identify as your authentic friends?

This week on ESPN College Gameday, there was a story about two Oregon State football coaches.  One coach’s wife had battled a kidney disorder for most of her life that recently all but shut her kidneys down.  She needed a transplant, and she had exhausted her opportunities in searching for a donor.  That’s when the fellow Oregon State coach gave her his kidney!

Authentic friendship.

I tend to believe that I would do a lot of things for a lot of people, and there are a lot of people who would do a lot of things for me.  But, there is a smaller list of people who I would do absolutely anything for; only a few people in my life who I feel I could ask absolutely anything of without fearing that I might offend them, inconvenience them, or even surprise them.  I trust that those same friends see the reciprocity in our relationships, as well.

My authentic friends?  Here’s a short compilation:  of course, my amazing wife is first on my list, and I could put Dave, Stoner, and Rob up there, as well.  I also wouldn’t hesitate to add my LifeGroup; they have become incredible friends, even in the short time we have known each other.

Who are the people in your life who you feel are your authentic friends?  Which friendships energize you, comfort you, encourage you, elevate you, challenge you, or sacrifice for you?  Who would you do absolutely anything for?

Ducks are smart. though.  They have excellent eyesight (hence, you have to hide), and they can spot you before you spot can spot them, usually.  They won’t even respond to your call, unless it sounds pretty authentic.  They can detect a phony if your decoys aren’t set up the right way (even though they look real).  Ultimately, if they think just one detail doesn’t seem right to them, they’ll turn tail-feather and run (fly, of course).

So, it would seem to me that ducks are smarter than people; or, maybe it’s just that ducks are more patient than people.  When just one detail is out of place, ducks will skip an opportunity, as good as it may seem, and look for a better one.  Maybe we can learn from the ducks.  Maybe we should say “no” to the “good”, so we can say “yes” to the best (circa. Craig Groeschel).

So I began thinking of how I have spent my last 5 minutes; for that matter, my last 5 hours or days or years.  What would I journal about that would define my existence?  Sure, I went to work, cleaned house, went to the gym, and made sure I didn’t miss any college football on Saturdays.  But, aside from the mundane day-t0-day-this-and-that, what have I done that really matters?  What if a majority of my entries were about relationships that I strengthened, lives that I touched, right causes that I fought for, and sacrifices that I made to better others’ lives?  Would my journal be something worth reading?  Would yours?

Most importantly, though, I am beginning to realize who I really am and what I am really meant for.  Every day, God is teaching me more and more about what is most valuable in the small amount of time we have on Earth.  I am so thankful for everything in my life, and as Dave Ramsey says, “I’m better than I deserve.”